Puck (moon)
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| Discovery | |
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| Discovered by: | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 2 |
| Discovery date: | December 30, 1985 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Mean radius of orbit: | 86,004.444 ± 0.064 km[1] |
| Eccentricity: | 0.00012 ± 0.000061[1] |
| Orbital period: | 0.76183287 ± 0.000000014 d[1] |
| Inclination: | 0.31921 ± 0.021° (to Uranus' equator)[1] |
| Satellite of: | Uranus |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean radius: | 81 ± 2 km[2] |
| Surface area: | ~82,400 km²[3] |
| Volume: | ~2,225,000 km³[3] |
| Mass: | ~2.9×1018 kg[3] |
| Mean density: | ~1.3 g/cm³ (assumed) |
| Equatorial surface gravity: | 0.028 m/s2[3] |
| Escape velocity: | 0.069 km/s [3] |
| Rotation period: | synchronous[2] |
| Axial tilt: | zero[2] |
| Albedo: | 0.11 ± 0.1 (at 0.55 μm)[4] |
| Temperature: | ~64 K[3] |
| Apparent magnitude: | 20.2 [5] |
Puck is a closer moon to Uranus. Puck was found from the images taken by Voyager 2 on 1985-12-30, and was given the designation S/1985 U 1.[6]
In Celtic mythology and English folklore, a Puck is a mischievous sprite, imagined as an evil demon by Christians; the moon is named after the Puck who appears in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which he travels around the globe at night with the fairies. It is also designated Uranus XV.[7]
Puck is the biggest of the small closer moons to Uranus. It is in the middle in size between Portia and Miranda, the smallest of the five bigger moons. Puck's orbit is also located between these two moons. Little is known about it aside from its orbit,[1] its radius about 81 km,[2] and its geometric albedo approximately 0.11.[4]
Of the moons found by the Voyager 2 imaging team, only Puck was found early enough that the probe could be programmed to take pictures of it in some detail. Images showed that Puck has a shape of a slightly prolate spheroid (ratio between axises is 0.97 ± 0.04).[2]. Its surface is heavily cratered[8] and is grey in color.[2] There are three named craters on the surface of Puck. Observations with Hubble Space Telescope and large terrestrial telescopes found water ice absorption features in the spectrum of Puck.[4][9]
[change] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Jacobson, R.A. (1998). "The Orbits of the Inner Uranian Satellites From Hubble Space Telescope and Voyager2 Observations". The Astronomical Journal 115: 1195-1199. DOI:10.1086/300263.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Voyager's Eleventh Discovery of a Satellite of Uranus and Photometry and the First Size Measurements of Nine Satellites". Icarus 151: 69–77. DOI:10.1006/icar.2001.6597.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Calculated on the basis of other parameters
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Karkoschka, Erich (2001). "Comprehensive Photometry of the Rings and 16 Satellites of Uranus with the Hubble Space Telescope". Icarus 151: 51–68. DOI:10.1006/icar.2001.6596.
- ↑ Puck Statistics. Retrieved on 1 October 2007.
- ↑ Smith, B. (January 16 1986). IAU Circular No. 4159. Retrieved on 6 August 2006.
- ↑ Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers. Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology (July 21 2006). Retrieved on 6 August 2006.
- ↑ Thomas, P. (1987). "Voyager observations of 1985U1". Icarus 72: 79-83. DOI:10.1016/0019-1035(87)90121-7.
- ↑ Dumas, Christophe (2003). "Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS Multiband Photometry of Proteus and Puck". Astronomical Journal 126: 1080–1085. DOI:10.1086/375909.
[change] Other websites
- Puck Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- Page that includes a reprocessed version of the Voyager Puck image
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| Moons | Ariel ·Belinda ·Bianca ·Caliban ·Cordelia ·Cressida ·Cupid ·Desdemona ·Ferdinand ·Francisco ·Juliet ·Mab ·Margaret ·Miranda · Oberon ·Ophelia ·Perdita ·Portia ·Prospero ·Puck ·Rosalind ·Setebos ·Stephano ·Sycorax ·Titania ·Trinculo ·Umbriel Other: Arieal features ·Miranda features ·Oberon features ·Titania features ·Puck Craters ·Umbriel craters · Miranda's Verona Rupes ·Umbriel Crater Wunda |
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| Characteristics | Atmosphere ·Rings of Uranus | |
| Discovery | William Herschel ·William Lassell | |
| Exploration | Voyager program ·Voyager 2 | |
| Other | 15 Orionis ·Uranus-crosser asteroid ·In fiction | |
